Wednesday, 22 May 2013

Although
this short story has been previously published in the collection
'Fragile Things', and therefore available for some years, the fact
Neil Gaiman is releasing his intellectual property as a freebie on
Amazon's Kindle software / hardware is nonetheless a nice gesture.
Particularly as this also includes a prologue to his new novel 'The
Ocean At The End Of The Lane'.

For
those unfamiliar with Gaiman's work – which considering his hand
has penned graphic novels, best selling adult and child fiction as
well as blockbuster films – should be very few these days, 'How To
Talk To Girls At Parties' is a fine example of the authors ability to
meld the ordinary with the fantastic.

The
story is a nostalgic look at teen awkwardness when matters of
romantic interaction with opposite sex becomes the overwhelming urge
of boys. Rooted firmly in 1970's south London, the story is a first
person narrative told from the perspective of one of two friends on
their way to a party. A fairly typical and recognisable situation
that takes a bizarre turn as the protagonist, envious of his friend's
ease at talking to girls, attempts to interact with those present at
the party. Focussed on the end result of snog he fails to grasp what
exactly he and his friend have got themselves in to.

It's
a very quick and easy story to get into and is unfortunately over all
too soon. But there is more.

The
prologue to Gaiman's new novel 'The Ocean At The End Of The Lane',
which will be released next month, is an intriguing mix of
middle-aged melancholy and warm childhood nostalgia coming together
to distort the present. The unnamed narrator traces his way back to
a farm where slightly odd characters from his childhood reside.
Gradually more and more comes back to him, but ultimately we are left
hanging from a question mark.

It's
a very effective introduction that makes you hanker after more... though anyone who has read the likes of 'American Gods', 'Anansi
Boys' or 'Neverwhere' can attest to Gaiman's power for page-turning
prose. Gaiman plays his cards close to his chest, but this is
certainly enough to hook most people as his engaging and stimulating
style is what really catches you.

Really, there is no doubt that this freebie will have the desired effect of
not only turning new readers onto Gaiman's short stories in 'Fragile Things' and 'Smoke And Mirrors', but also
tease the pre-orders for his new novel up a little more before its
launch in June.